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House of Tremere is a supplement detailing the early years of House and Clan Tremere, after they forced their way into Vampire society in 1022 AD, and their fortress of the time, Ceoris in Transylvania. It depicts a group in chaos, surrounded by foes on all sides and also at war with itself, that survives more by the manipulation of older monsters than by its own skill or judgement.

After the initial fiction vignette and introduction, the first three chapters are all written as letters from different characters involved in the besieged chantry. The first, An Ancient Rot, covers the history of Ceoris in detail, superseding several previous versions of the mages' transformation into vampires. It is suitably gruesome, and written with the most authority of the three, being the work of a dead magus bound into the building. The second and shortest chapter, A Faraway Citadel, explores the fortress's outer defences from the viewpoint of one of its many enemies. The third, A House Divided, has the vampire in charge of Ceoris discussing its workings and problems. These three chapters together set the scene, their writing in character presumably to allow Storytellers to contradict and update information if players read this book. Even An Ancient Rot is deliberately left open to interpretation, with the unseen forces at work given titles rather than names, connected to canon characters from the Transylvania Chronicles but left to storytellers to choose.

Chapters four through six are the meat of the book, and are written out of character.

The Belly of the Beast describes the chantry room by room. Even here, it can be altered to suit as the map is a character's memory of a brief visit. With its secret magical doors, ill omens in the library and underground caverns filled with monsters, it could be the location for a suicidal dungeon adventure as well as for the intrigue and horror more common to the Vampire game lines.

Those Damned And Soon To Be profiles the major and some minor characters in Ceoris, a collection of backstabbers, lunatics, fiends and doomed heroes. Those with a major part to play in the ongoing story are not given statistics, while those with lesser roles are covered even to Destiny, what will happen to them in the future if the story proceeds without the effects of the players' and storytellers' characters. Major characters include Etrius, here given a more thorough description than even in Children of the Inquisition, and one which disagrees with Daniel Greenberg's original on elements of history and characterisation. The version presented here is a hypocrite to be judged for his actions rather than an honest man to be pitied for his position. His tragic flaw becomes pride rather than fear. This is an interesting change of emphasis, making the character less sympathetic and trustworthy.

Secrets of the Workshops is the inevitable collection of new rituals and rules that come with every book on the Tremere. While the early ritual paths are appropriate to a house of mages becoming a clan of vampires, there is a lot of space given to Gargoyles (vampires created Frankenstein-style from pieces of other vampires), an idea I have never personally liked. Mr Laws adds to them significantly, although if like me you dislike the basic premise you will probably not be converted by this material. The large number of hybrid creatures and Gargoyles points to two observations. In character, the Tremere are placing great trust in the hybrids' creator, who will brilliant is clearly insane. Out of character, the creatures are reminders that Mr Laws has written extensively for Earthdawn and Over The Edge. Some are fantastical and disgusting at the same time, reminiscent of Earthdawn's mix of classic fantasy and Cthulhu-style horror, and others are downright surreal. The Velluma, flat vampires made of skin, would seem more suited to OTE than to Vampire for example. They are clever ideas but don't all fit with my view of Dark Ages as a historical horror game rather than dark fantasy. Some may well find their way into fantasy games I run.

The final chapter, Shadows of Ceoris, sketches in other important chantries of the time, with enough detail to run sessions about them or expand into full settings. It also provides information on how the internal struggle of house and clan continues outside Ceoris as well as within.

In style, the writing is clean and entertaining, the ideas inventive (if occasionally jarring with my views of the game's style), the presentation up to White Wolf's usual standard (good, with occasional typos and missing words, rendering a few sentences incoherent).

The art is disappointing in places. Guy Davis's chapter frontispieces are sketchy but atmospheric as always, Vince Locke's sketches are fine as usual, and Patrick Lambert's cover is suitably ominous if a little dark, but the other two artists, Mitch Byrd and Conan Venus, are not to my tastes. Since neither of them signs their work, I cannot tell which is which. The character sketches are largely done in cleanline black and white, resembling mainstream comic illustration, and includes costuming from periods after the game's setting. Other pieces, such as those of Virstania, the Gargoyle creator, tend to caricature, and seem to owe a debt to Rubens, depicting overweight women in states of undress. Personally they don't strike me as atmospheric.

In all, House of Tremere seems more fantasy in style than most books for Vampire: The Dark Ages. While this is inevitable given the subject matter, it still doesn't quite fit the conception of the game I've gained from much of the series. There is enough to interest storytellers and characters without dwelling on the magic and monsters, however, and anyone interested in the Tremere of the time should definitely look at it. In this era they are young, headstrong and aggressive, a counterpoint to their position as pillars of the establishment in the modern World of Darkness setting. House of Tremere goes some way to increasing and explaining this difference.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

House of Tremere
Author: Robin D. Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Vampire The Dark Ages Cost: $19.95 US Page count: 144 ISBN: 1-56504-272-7 SKU: WW2829 Capsule Review by Craig Oxbrow on 01/10/01. Genre tags: Fantasy Historical Horror Vampire Gothic	House of Tremere is a supplement detailing the early years of House and Clan Tremere, after they forced their way into Vampire society in 1022 AD, and their fortress of the time, Ceoris in Transylvania. It depicts a group in chaos, surrounded by foes on all sides and also at war with itself, that survives more by the manipulation of older monsters than by its own skill or judgement. After the initial fiction vignette and introduction, the first three chapters are all written as letters from different characters involved in the besieged chantry. The first, An Ancient Rot, covers the history of Ceoris in detail, superseding several previous versions of the mages' transformation into vampires. It is suitably gruesome, and written with the most authority of the three, being the work of a dead magus bound into the building. The second and shortest chapter, A Faraway Citadel, explores the fortress's outer defences from the viewpoint of one of its many enemies. The third, A House Divided, has the vampire in charge of Ceoris discussing its workings and problems. These three chapters together set the scene, their writing in character presumably to allow Storytellers to contradict and update information if players read this book. Even An Ancient Rot is deliberately left open to interpretation, with the unseen forces at work given titles rather than names, connected to canon characters from the Transylvania Chronicles but left to storytellers to choose. Chapters four through six are the meat of the book, and are written out of character. The Belly of the Beast describes the chantry room by room. Even here, it can be altered to suit as the map is a character's memory of a brief visit. With its secret magical doors, ill omens in the library and underground caverns filled with monsters, it could be the location for a suicidal dungeon adventure as well as for the intrigue and horror more common to the Vampire game lines. Those Damned And Soon To Be profiles the major and some minor characters in Ceoris, a collection of backstabbers, lunatics, fiends and doomed heroes. Those with a major part to play in the ongoing story are not given statistics, while those with lesser roles are covered even to Destiny, what will happen to them in the future if the story proceeds without the effects of the players' and storytellers' characters. Major characters include Etrius, here given a more thorough description than even in Children of the Inquisition, and one which disagrees with Daniel Greenberg's original on elements of history and characterisation. The version presented here is a hypocrite to be judged for his actions rather than an honest man to be pitied for his position. His tragic flaw becomes pride rather than fear. This is an interesting change of emphasis, making the character less sympathetic and trustworthy. Secrets of the Workshops is the inevitable collection of new rituals and rules that come with every book on the Tremere. While the early ritual paths are appropriate to a house of mages becoming a clan of vampires, there is a lot of space given to Gargoyles (vampires created Frankenstein-style from pieces of other vampires), an idea I have never personally liked. Mr Laws adds to them significantly, although if like me you dislike the basic premise you will probably not be converted by this material. The large number of hybrid creatures and Gargoyles points to two observations. In character, the Tremere are placing great trust in the hybrids' creator, who will brilliant is clearly insane. Out of character, the creatures are reminders that Mr Laws has written extensively for Earthdawn and Over The Edge. Some are fantastical and disgusting at the same time, reminiscent of Earthdawn's mix of classic fantasy and Cthulhu-style horror, and others are downright surreal. The Velluma, flat vampires made of skin, would seem more suited to OTE than to Vampire for example. They are clever ideas but don't all fit with my view of Dark Ages as a historical horror game rather than dark fantasy. Some may well find their way into fantasy games I run. The final chapter, Shadows of Ceoris, sketches in other important chantries of the time, with enough detail to run sessions about them or expand into full settings. It also provides information on how the internal struggle of house and clan continues outside Ceoris as well as within. In style, the writing is clean and entertaining, the ideas inventive (if occasionally jarring with my views of the game's style), the presentation up to White Wolf's usual standard (good, with occasional typos and missing words, rendering a few sentences incoherent). The art is disappointing in places. Guy Davis's chapter frontispieces are sketchy but atmospheric as always, Vince Locke's sketches are fine as usual, and Patrick Lambert's cover is suitably ominous if a little dark, but the other two artists, Mitch Byrd and Conan Venus, are not to my tastes. Since neither of them signs their work, I cannot tell which is which. The character sketches are largely done in cleanline black and white, resembling mainstream comic illustration, and includes costuming from periods after the game's setting. Other pieces, such as those of Virstania, the Gargoyle creator, tend to caricature, and seem to owe a debt to Rubens, depicting overweight women in states of undress. Personally they don't strike me as atmospheric. In all, House of Tremere seems more fantasy in style than most books for Vampire: The Dark Ages. While this is inevitable given the subject matter, it still doesn't quite fit the conception of the game I've gained from much of the series. There is enough to interest storytellers and characters without dwelling on the magic and monsters, however, and anyone interested in the Tremere of the time should definitely look at it. In this era they are young, headstrong and aggressive, a counterpoint to their position as pillars of the establishment in the modern World of Darkness setting. House of Tremere goes some way to increasing and explaining this difference. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)